By Kelly Fiveash for The Register. This story was
reproduced with permission.
The new project, which was officially launched
today, has been set up to encourage companies to donate
intellectual property that improves the environment.
The founders said that, to egg on that incentive, 31 patents
have already been donated into the public domain, including a
recyclable protective packaging material for electronic components
from IBM, and mobile phones recycled into calculators and personal
digital assistants from Nokia.
The commons will be overseen by the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It described the new project as an
opportunity for companies to independently pledge intellectual
property that "provide environmental benefit and do not represent
an essential source of business advantage for them".
The Geneva-based WBCSD group, members of which include around
200 of the world's biggest companies, also said it wanted to build
on the open source community's methods of sharing free software by
getting businesses to contribute technology patents that provide
environmental benefits.
It said that any company wishing to join the commons need only
make one patent pledge. The WBCSD hopes over time to globally
establish "a robust number of patents".
© The Register
2007
